Tree grasping device

ABSTRACT

A tree grasping mechanism for a tree harvester in which two grasping arms are mounted for pivotal movement on a slide that is mounted for reciprocable movement on a support structure of the tree harvester.

United States Patent McColl Mar. 7, 1972 [54] TREE GRASPING DEVICE [56] References Cited 72 Inventor: Bruce John McColl, Whitby, Ontario, UNYTED STATES PATENTS Canada 3,277,936 10/1966 Larson ..144/3 D 1 1 Assignee= Owens-Illinois FOREIGN PATENTS on APPLICATIONS 1 Filed: J y 30,1970 58,530 1 3/1941 Denmark ..143/52 A [2]] Appl' 59388 Primary Examiner-Gerald A. Dost [62 Division of Ser. No. 572,530, Aug. 15, 1966, Pat. Atmrney-Beveridge&DeGrandi [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S.C1. ..l44/242R,214/3 [5 H Int Cl Aolg 23/02 A tree grasping mechanism for a tree harvester m WhlCh two I Fieid [43/52 A grasping arms are mounted for pivotal movement on a shde that is mounted for reciprocable movement on a support structure of the tree harvester.

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BRUCE J. MccoL M "d ATTORNEYS PAIENTEUMAR 7 m2 SHEET 18 HF 16 .k mmoi Aw ATTORN EYS TREE GRASPING DEVICE The present invention is concerned with the production of wood chips suitable for use as a raw material by pulp and paper mills. In particular, the invention concerns itself with a machine by means of which the operations involved in converting a living, growing tree into such chips can be completely mechanized and, in large part, automated.

This application is a division of US. application, Ser. No. 572,530 filed Aug. 15, I966 and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,458.

The pulp and paper industry has come to recognize in recent years that its current methods of conducting its forest operations introduce such high and increasing costs that some way to achieve either economy or increased efficiency in productivity must be found. To this end, a number of attempts at mechanization have been made, mostly in the direction of providing mechanical devices to perform one ormore of the operations which have traditionally been carried out by manual labor. These attempts cannot, it is believed,solve or in some cases, even alleviate the problems which have heretofore been inherent in forest operations and which remain inherent therein as long as any portion of the operation remains dependent upon manual labor.

A chain may be considered to extend between a forest stand and a pulp mill. The last link in this chain is the final transport by road, rail or water from the forest to the pulp mill. This link is already reasonably efficient.

The operations in the logging area which precede this final transport, however, such as felling, debranching, debarking, cutting to length and gathering for final transport have not been subject to any overall examination with the view to achieving an efficient, integrated and mechanized operation which becomes independent of such interfering parameters as weather, seasons, darkness and the limited productivity of human labor.

The present invention seeks to provide a machine'and a system of operation by which, in the end result, raw material for pulp and paper manufacture can be produced by a highly efficient, completely mechanized and largely automated operation. Stated in its simplest terms, the present invention contemplates a mobile factory constituted by a large, special purpose vehicle which provides a stabilized platform for at least one wood chip producing machine and which may move through a forest area to remove trees from their stumps, process the trees to eliminate bark and branches and to convert the tree trunk to chips. The chips are stored in a container carried by the vehicle, the container being detachable from the vehicle so that when it is full it may be deposited for further transport by conventional means and replaced by a fresh empty container for the continuation of the machine function.

The many advantageous features of the invention and the ways in which its efficient operation are ensured will become apparent from. the following detailed description of one embodiment which is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals denote like parts in the various views and in which:

FIG. I is an overall perspective view, taken from the forward end of a machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 taken from the rear quarter of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly cutaway, of the forward portion of the machine showing the location of the source of electric, hydraulic and pneumatic power for the various machine functions;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a typical wheel station and may be considered as being taken through section line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view, partly broken away, of the center joint about which one chassis section may be articulated relative to the other in order to provide vehicle steering;

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

our:

FIG. 7is a vertical section'taken through a typical 'pivot- 'walk station such as, for example, that indicated along section line 77 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken through one primary arm" showing its mounting arrangement and the mounting of the secondary-arm;

FIG.9 is perspective view, partly broken away, of the tree grasping and shearing head carried by the free end of the secondary arm;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view, partly" broken away, of the tree-shearing mechanism carried by the lower end of the head illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view in section, along line ll-l1 of FIG-l0, of a'portion of the apparatus for actuating the tree shearing mechanism;

FIG. 12 (sheet 10) is a perspective view showing the lower end of one of the tree shears,'the upper end of which is shown in F I6. 10;

FIG. 13 is a schematic or diagrammatic view, in plan, showing the free end of the primary'arm and showing the relationship between the geometry of the secondary arm and the head relative to the tree-receiving portion of the primary arm;

FIGS.'14, Band 16 are diagrammatic views showing the relationship between the tree-grasping mechanism and trees of different diameters;

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic view of the tree-processing mechanism showing the relationship of the various treeprocessing mechanisms as'the lower end of a tree trunk is being introduced therein;

FIG.-I7A is a view similar to FIG. 17 showing the relationship of the same mechanism to the same tree towards the end ofthe processing operation upon the tree;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the mechanism by means of which the secondary arm is mounted upon the primary arm;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tree-feeding mechanism removed from the environment in which it is shown in FIG. 8;

'FIG. 21 is asection view taken along line 21-21 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view, partly cutaway, of a portion of the rear section of the machine shown in'FIGS. I and 2 and illustrating the manner in which the chip receiving container may be mounted upon and removed from the vehicle;

FIG. 23 (sheet 8) is a simplified schematic of a suitable hydraulic power pack which may be carried within the head shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic view, partly cutaway, showing the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 and showing the axes, planes, directions and extent of vehicle and machine component movements and their relationships; and

FIG. 25 is a diagrammatic perspective view, partly cutaway, showing the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 in operation in a typical forest area.

As will become apparent as the description proceeds, the machine of the present invention is symmetrical about a longitudinal center line. Accordingly, it has a right-hand side and a left-hand side and, whenever the terms right-hand" or left-hand" are used in the following description they should be taken to mean right-hand" or left-hand with respect to the portion of the machine when seen as in FIG. 2. Similarly terms such as up, down, front" and rear all have reference to directions superimposed on FIG. 2.

OVERALL MACHINE CONFIGURATION The entire machine which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is constituted by, as was discussed in the introduction, a large, mobile vehicle supporting a wood chip producing machine which may move through a forest region and remove trees from their stumps, process the tree to remove unwanted bark and branches and to reduce the tree trunk to chips which are then stored in a container carried by the vehicle.

The various components of the machine, both functional and structural will be separately described in greater detail with reference to the succeeding sheets and figures of drawings accompanying this application. To begin with, however, a general discussion of the overall machine will simplify the following description of the components and will enable the relationship between these components and the overall machine to be more readily understood and appreciated.

Referring, therefore, to FIGS. 1 and 2 the machine can be seen to generally comprise what may be termed a forward chassis section identified by reference character 10 and a rear chassis section identified by reference character 11. The front and rear chassis sections 10 and 11 are secured together at a center joint or trunnion about which the two chassis sections may be articulated about a vertical axis, the plane of articulation being horizontal. Limited freedom is provided for the front and rear chassis sections 10 and II to roll relative to one another about a horizontal axis aligned generally longitudinally of the vehicle but no freedom of movement is provided between chassis sections about the horizontal axis extending transversely of the vehicle. The details of the center joint construction and the manner in which the vehicle may be articulated at this point will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. For the time being, however, it is sufficient to appreciate that the chassis sections and 11 may be articulated with respect to one another to provide for vehicle steering and, as will be described in greater detail below, to provide for accurate vehicle advance during the tree processing operation.

Each chassis section 10 and I1 is supported by a pair of ground-engaging wheels, wheels 12 and 13 being associated with the forward chassis section 10 and a pair of wheels, only one of which, 14, can be seen are associated with the rear chassis section 11. The application of motive power to the ground-engaging wheels in a manner which. will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 enables the vehicle to move forwardly or rearwardly and the articulation of chassis l0 and 11 with respect to one another provide for vehicle steering.

Each chassis section comprises a main chassis frame which, in general, is of roughly V-shape, the apex of the V being located adjacent the center joint axis of articulation and the two legs of the V terminating in parallel portions adjacent each wheel station. Referring to FIG. 1, the chassis frame for the rear chassis section II is truncated at its apex to provide for a central portion 15 which merges with a secondary portion 16 which, in turn, terminates in portion 17 which is parallel to a corresponding portion on the other side of the vehicle, the two portions 17 housing the wheel station and associated equipment which will be described in greater detail below. The forward chassis section is similar to the rear chassis section and comprises a truncated portion 18, an angled portion 19 and a portion 20 which is parallel to a corresponding portion on the other side of the vehicle and which houses the forward chassis wheel stations and equipment associated therewith. The forward chassis section carries, at the truncated portion 18, a rearwardly extending housing 21 which houses the centerjoint trunnion and the actuating mechanism by means of which vehicle articulation is achieved.

Extending upwardly and inwardly from each chassis frame portion 20 of front chassis I0 and from each rear chassis portion 17 is an upwardly extending frame member 22 from which there extends an inwardly sloping frame member 23 terminating in a central horizontal arch or bridging member joining corresponding structural members 23 and 22 on the other side of the chassis section.

In the case of the forward chassis section 10, structural members 22 and 23 and the horizontal bridging member (not shown) support a cab or operator control center 24. A deck 25 provides a floor for the control center 24 and this deck is supported, in part, by structural members constituting access stairs 26 and by a support pylon 27 carried by the forward chassis element 18. Suitable structural members depending from the frame members 22, 23 and their bridging member and incorporated in the structure of the control center 24 will serve to rigidly mount and carry this compartment in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As can be seen in the drawings, the control center is housed within walls 28 and 29 and access to thecontrol center is provided by door 30. Windows 31 surrounding the control center enable the machine operators located therein to maintain visual supervision over all functions of the machine in all directions.

Also associated with the front chassis section 10 are the tree grasping, severing and processing elements and while these will be discussed in substantially greater detail below, it can now be seen that the vertical frame member 22 constitutes a column having a vertical axis about which is mounted a primary arm 32. The primary arm is movable in a horizontal plane about the vertical axis of structural member 22 and carries, as can be seen in FIG. 2, a debranching and debarking mechanism 33 which surrounds a central opening through which the butt end of a severed tree may be introduced into the processing apparatus carried within the housing of the primary arm 32. The function of this apparatus housed within arm 32 is to, initially, remove unwanted branches and bark, feed the tree downwardly and to reduce the tree to chips which will then be conveyed, as will be later described, into a container carried by the rear chassis section 11 of the machine.

The primary arm 32 carries a secondary arm 36 which is mounted, first for movement in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis passing through the free end of arm 32 and, secondly, for rotation in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis passing through and intersecting with the said vertical axis in the free end of arm 32. The end of the secondary arm 36 adjacent primary arm 32 carries a portion of the mounting mechanism and means by the operation of which movement in the vertical plane can beachieved.

The free end of the arm 36 carries a head 38 which performs the functions of grasping a tree, severing it from its stump and, when moved to the appropriate position providing the initial or first-stage feed to introduce the butt end of the severed tree through the debranching and debarking mechanism 33 into the internal mechanism carried by the primary arm 32.

FIG. 1 illustrates these functions. The left-hand head in FIG. 1 is shown in the act of grasping and severing a tree. Grasping arms are gripping a tree T between the arms and a base member while tree-shearing members S have severed the tree from its stump. The right-hand head shown in FIG. I is in the act of introducing a severed tree T into the debranching and debarking mechanism 33, the secondary arm 36 having moved from a position, perhaps similar to the position of the other arm shown in FIG. I so as to move the tree, while maintaining it in a vertical orientation from the position in which it grew to the position in which the tree is shown in association with lefthand primary arm 32.

The tree-grasping arms are mounted upon a subassembly of the head 38. This subassembly is a slide which is capable of vertical movement relative to the heat 38 so that when the tree is positioned above the debranching and debarking mechanism 33, the slide may then be moved in a vertically downward direction in order to introduce the butt end of the tree into the processing apparatus carried within the primary arm 32. Below the debarking and debranching mechanism 33 there is a main feed and guide roller mechanism which, when the tree has entered the apparatus a sufiicient distance, will engage the tree and will take over from the slide arrangement carried by the head 38 so that the tree may then be released by the head which may then return to a position functionally similar to that of left-hand head in FIG. I so as to grasp, sever and lift a further tree for introduction into the processing apparatus of the primary arm 32.

The function of the processing apparatus carried within the primary arm 32 is to reduce the tree trunk to chips which are then blown through conduits into a container carried by the rear chassis ll of the machine in a manner which will be described in greater detail below.

Although the preceding description has not taken pains to specifically distinguish between the primary arm' 32, the

secondary arm 36 and the head 38 carried by one side of the machine and identical equipment carried by the other side of the machine, it will be readily apparent from a consideration of FIGS. 1 and 2 that the primary arm, secondary arm and head of one side is duplicated by a primary arm, secondary arm and head on the other side of the machine and it will equally be apparent that the primary arm, secondary arm and head of one side of the machine operates independently of and simultaneously with the corresponding equipment carried by the other side of the machine. For this purpose, of course, the control center 24 will contain two operators, each in charge of the supervision of the operation of the apparatus associated with one side of the vehicle.

Before leaving this general description of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it might be well to discuss, by way of example, some physical dimensions of the apparatus since some machine functions will be better understood when considered in the proper context of total vehicle size.

First of all, the machine illustrated is primarily intended for operation in the southern pine regions of the United States. Accordingly, the machine disclosed, being designed especially for operation in this area, will differ in some ways from a machine embodying the same invention but designed for operation in other areas where tree conditions, ground terrain and other factors may dictate certain changes. For this reason, the following dimensional figures should be considered as illustrative or representative and should not be construed in any way as limiting.

As illustrated, it is contemplated that the vehicle of FIGS. 1

and 2 will, including the pay load contained in container 35 have a gross vehicle weight of something of the order of 180,000 pounds. The fore and aft distance between the axles of the front and rear chassis will be of the order of 24 feet and the transverse distance between vertical structural members 22 of the chassis will also be 24 feet. The maximum distance between heads 38 when they are extended in the transverse direction to their greatest extend will be approximately 70 feet. The tire diameter is contemplated at feet, ground clearance at about 5 feet. The deck or floor of the control center 24 will be about 10 feet above ground and the level of the debarker-debrancher mechanism above the ground will be approximately 12 feet.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT damage by external agencies. The pod 50 may also contain an electric motor 58 (supplied with energy from generator 54) driving a pump 59 provides a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid in accumulator 60 from which the various hydraulic functions of the machine can be supplied. An exception with respect to these various hydraulic functions arises in the case of the heads 38 as will be explained below. Further, an electric motor 61 may be provided driving an air compressor 62 in order to provide a source of pneumatic pressure for those pneumatic functions the machine. As shown, the air compressor and its motor 61 need not necessarily be carried within the pod 50 although, of course, they may be located therein if it is desirable to do so. Since it is the engine 53 which is most likely to require periodic maintenance, it is of principle importance From these dimensions it can be seen that a vehicle of substantial size is contemplated and one which will be substantially immune to the terrain obstructions which might render travel difficult for vehicles of more conventional type and size.

The present invention contemplates the integration of subsystem modules as will be apparent in the following description of such components as the head 38, the secondary arm 36, the primary arm 32 and the engine compartment or pod. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the invention provides an engine compartment in the nature of a pod 50 which may be removably slung beneath the control center 24 carried by the forward chassis section 10. The entire pod S0 is suspended below the deck or platform 25 of the control center 24 by any suitable mechanisms which are diagrammatically illustrated at 52. Ideally, these mechanisms 52 will be capable of raising and lowering the entire pod 50 together with its contained apparatus. In this way, when engine maintenance is required, an entire pod 50 can belowered, transported to a maintenance shop and replaced with a new or spare pod containing equivalent apparatus so that the operation of the entire machine is not unduly delayed. The engine pod 50 contains, by way of example, a diesel engine 53 coupled to and driving an electric generator 54 which will include known and necessary control gear. The diesel engine 53 is cooled by a radiator thatit be located in the droppable and exchangeable pod 50. Otherwise, conditions of space, convenience and maintenance requirements will generally dictate what other equipment is similarly located in pod 50.

From the preceding descriptions of the general machine configuration and of the engine compartment, it will now be appreciated that a large vehicle has been provided carrying an engine driving an electric generator which, in turn supplies electric power to, first of all, generate a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid and, second, to generate a source of pressurized air for the hydraulic and pneumatic functions of the machine. The electrical output of the generator will also serve to drive those electrical functions of the machine which will be described below.

WHEEL STATIONS As described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, each chassis section 10 and I1 is provided with two wheel stations, one on the left and one on the right-hand side of the machine. Each of these wheel stations is mechanically identical to every other wheel station and a typical wheel station is illustrated in FIG. 4, this being a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 2 and illustrating, in detail, the left rear wheel station of the machine illustrated in FIG. 1.

The wheel station illustrated in FIG. 4 may be seen to be housed within the structural member 17 of the rear chassis section 11, section 17 being that portion which lies parallel to a corresponding portion (not seen) on the other side of the vehicle. A fragmentary showing of structural element 16 of the rear chassis section 17 is also included in FIG. 4.

Chassis section 17 terminates in a substantially square housing 63 to which is rigidly bolted an inwardly extending tubular wheel spindle 64 about which, by means of roller bearings 65 and 66, the wheel hub 67 is mounted for rotation. The wheel hub 67 supports a radially extending annular box section 68 which, in turn, carries the tire rim 69 which supports the tire 14.

The chassis section 17 houses an electric motor 71 which is provided with electrical energy by means of appropriate power conduits leading from generator 54 housed within the engine compartment or pod 50. Suitable control leads will extend between the engine 71 and the control center 24 in a known manner so as to give the operator within the control center 24 control over the direction and speed of operation of motor 71. An output shaft (not shown) of motor 71 will drive the input shaft (not shown) or a gear box 72, the output shaft 73 of which drives, through a drive shaft and flexible couplings 74 and 75 respectively, a bevel gear 76 journaled for rotation -in bearing 77 set in the wall of box section 63. Bevel gear 76 drives a second bevel gear 78 which is, in turn, supported by bearings 79 and 80 and which is splined to shaft 81 which ex- 

1. A tree-grasping mechanism comprising a) a supporting structure having a longitudinal axis, said structure being adapted for connection to a tree-harvesting machine; b) a slide member partially embracing and mounted on the supporting structure for slidable movement therealong in both senses of the direction of the longitudinal axis; c) a fluid cylinder secured to the supporting structure and parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof; d) a piston in said cylinder and a rod extEnding from each side of the piston outwardly of the cylinder at each end thereof; e) sprockets mounted on the ends of said rods; f) flexible motion transmitting means trained around the sprockets and secured at its ends to opposite ends of the cylinder and secured intermediate its ends to the slide member whereby reciprocating movement of the cylinder piston provides positive advancement or retraction of said slide member along the supporting structure; and g) tree-grasping arms mounted on the slide member for pivotal movement at two spaced points along an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the supporting member.
 2. A tree-grasping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the slide member includes a pair of right-angle flanges spaced along said member opposite to and for cooperation with said tree-grasping arms to cradle and secure said tree in a predetermined position on the mechanism prior to and after severing of the tree. 